The National Union of Public Workers is demanding urgent action from management of the Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) to reverse what union leaders believe is the unfair dismissal of an employee who was on remand at Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP) Dodds.
And, amid ongoing tension over the terms and conditions under which SSA employees are being asked to work, the NUPW’s Acting General Secretary Delcia Burke has cautioned Government against using deceitful tactics to restructure the company.
On Thursday, Burke told Barbados TODAY a man employed as a lorry loader at the SSA was placed on remand by the court, after being charged with a criminal offence. As such, his lawyer notified the employee’s direct supervisor at the SSA.
But when he reported for work after being granted bail some months later the employee was verbally informed that his services were no longer required because he was not at work.
The union leader told Barbados TODAY the NUPW has since challenged the decision based on previous court decisions, which determined that if an employer is informed that an employee has been incarcerated and could not attend work, they could not be dismissed.
“He was just terminated by word of mouth. They told him to collect the green paper to take to the NIS [National Insurance Scheme] and he did not take it and so they posted it. It did not have any reason for dismissal. That part of the form remained blank. It did not say why he was dismissed,” Burke explained.
Minister of the Environment and National Beautification Trevor Prescod told Barbados TODAY he was not in a position to address the matter.
However, after a month of continuous attempts to secure a meeting to hear the man’s case, Burke said it appeared the NUPW was receiving the run around from Government.
“We received a letter from Sanitation informing us that our correspondence is with their lawyer. Nobody has been following any steps and it has been so long since this man has been dismissed without any charges and without a hearing,” she said.
When asked to disclose the nature of the criminal offence that the ex-employee is accused of committing, Burke would only describe it as a private matter, which “could not interfere with his ability to perform his duties at the SSA”.
Burke said Government may be attempting to prove a point regarding the extended deadlock with workers over proposed changes to their workweek.
“I don’t think this is only about this one man. There is a grievance procedure and a disciplinary procedure at the SSA and it has not been followed,” she added, while saying that Government would be given another week to address the matter before the union engages its membership.
“We are giving them enough time; the letter is with their lawyer for their lawyer
to tell them what the position is. This has been about three weeks the letter was with their lawyer and they are supposed to get back to us. By the end of next week, if we don’t have a meeting then we will meet with our members and engage them on it,” she said.
kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb
